A recently renovated building in historic downtown Canton is now home to several businesses, such as MOJO Productions and Technical Resource Solutions. Above: Alan Thompson, owner of MOJO Productions, stands in his newly completed modern industrial designed office space.

CANTON — Two local businesses are now occupying space in a renovated office in downtown Canton and with the move have reaffirmed their commitments to the historic district of the city.

MOJO Productions and Technical Resource Solutions are now located in office space at 185 West Main St. in what was the old Riddle Barnes Office Supply space.

The space was recently renovated by its owners, and offers office suites and amenities such as a conference room and kitchen to its tenants.

For Alan Thompson, owner of MOJO Productions, who relocated after 11 years in another space in downtown Canton, the move made a lot of sense.

“This offers better exposure, and I didn’t want to leave downtown,” Thompson said of his decision. “It is also nice to have a fresh, new start.”

MOJO Productions is an advertising company that was founded in 2002 by Thompson and offers a wide range of creative advertising and marketing solutions to a diverse group of clients.

Thompson brings two decades of experience as an art director, working and winning awards in large advertising agencies on national accounts to his company.

MOJO has created work for businesses ranging from individuals to businesses that operate in 12 states with $30 million in billings.

His new office looks out on Academy Street and the Cherokee County School District’s meeting facility, and offers accessible parking for customers, who can enter the office building from Main Street or the rear parking lot, which is freshly striped.

Thompson said the building owners, Doug and Janet Flint, have been accommodating in working with him to ready the space for business.

He moved in Dec. 1 and calls the style of his new office Industrial Chic. The space he occupies is part of the old Cherokee Tribune printing offices, and has metal walls and the old garage door where papers where unloaded as part of the décor.

“As we put in sheetrock on some of the walls, it quieted the space down,” Thompson said. “We carpeted one area and kept the other with the cement floor. We can drive in props for photo shoots or use the space with the cement floor for processing shipments of printed materials for clients.”

While Thompson has an open space at the rear of the building, husband and wife team Scott Lavelle and Arlene Dickerson occupy 38 percent of the building and front on Main Street with a suite of offices and a training facility where they teach computer and technology seminars to companies and individuals.

Technical Resource Solutions is an IT service provider with a focus on small to mid-sized businesses. The company offers assistance with day-to-day computer issues, the design of multi-site computer networks, website development and hands on computer training, among other IT needs.

Lavelle serves as technical director and Dickerson as training director.

The company was formerly located in the Babcock Building in downtown for the last two years.

Dickerson said they wanted to keep the business downtown, and the new offices offer better accessibility for clients and visibility for the company.

She pointed to the support and loyalty business owners in the downtown area offer each other as one of the many reasons the couple is committed to staying in historic Canton.

“We have liked this area for a long time. The community is close knit and businesses know each other and refer to each other,” Dickerson said.

She also pointed to such downtown events at the First Friday Night and Canton Farmers Market as a reason businesses are attracted to the downtown area.

Dickerson praised Ginger Garrard, Main Street program director for the city of Canton, for the work she does to keep the area vibrant.

The company began in web design, she said, but later layered on additional services, including the computer training center, and that meant that the office needed to be more accessible.

Parking in back also was attractive in making the move, she said.

The office walls were stripped to expose the old brick underneath and the interiors are beautifully decorated with modern furniture and offer the latest in technology.

At present a third tenant, The Bookkeepers Nook, is also located in the building.

For more information on Techincal Resource Solutions go to technicalrs.com.

*We welcome your comments on the stories and issues of the day and seek to provide a forum for the community to voice opinions. All comments are subject to moderator approval before being made visible on the website but are not edited. The use of profanity, obscene and vulgar language, hate speech, and racial slurs is strictly prohibited. Advertisements, promotions, spam, and links to outside websites will also be rejected. Please read our terms of service for full guides